NUNS filed a complaint with the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to the police's failure to respond to the attack on the FoNet journalist.

Specifically, Čonjagić was attacked on the evening of November 3rd on Kosovska Street in Belgrade while reporting from a support rally for Dijana Hrki at Nikola Pašić Square. Despite being clearly marked as a journalist, he was physically assaulted by several men, and the police subsequently refused to document the incident on site.

According to the complaint, Čonjagić was at Nikola Pašić Square while reporting when he noticed a group of men dressed in black leaving the tent camp of government supporters in front of the National Assembly. He proceeded towards Vlajkovićeva Street and then Kosovska Street, intending to record that a group of similarly dressed men was leaving the camp.

"In the parking lot on Kosovska Street, the group of men noticed the journalist, and one of them grabbed him by the neck from behind, asking ‘what is this’, as he was visibly marked with a ‘press’ vest and card. The journalist responded that he was a journalist, that he had not filmed or photographed them, and that he worked for the news agency FoNet, which they could verify.

Three or four men, out of about 20 men in the group, almost all wearing some form of mask over their faces, attempted to drag him into the tent camp, but the journalist managed to break free and began to run across Kosovska Street. However, they quickly caught up with him, knocked him to the ground, and kicked him, at which point a passerby started calling the police.

At one moment, the kicking stopped, the journalist got up, and when he turned around, he saw a member of the gendarmerie moving him away from the scene while the attackers were not identified, despite the journalist's request,” the complaint states.

As further detailed, Čonjagić, along with the witness who had called the police, went to the plainclothes police officers on Takovska Street to report the attack, stating that he was a journalist. The police officers present directed him to go to the Stari Grad police station to file a report. This was refused by the journalist, who requested an immediate official record from the police or for them, as officials, to call colleagues. The police officers declined, explaining that they were “dealing with another case.”

According to the complaint, after that, one of the police officers approached the journalist and asked for his name and surname, stating that he knew it was about the FoNet agency. The journalist responded that he had informed the editorial office that he had refused to act, to which the police officer aggressively retorted with the question: “Who refuses?”.

In agreement with the editor, Čonjagić then decided to go to the police station on Majke Jevrosime Street to report the attack, as stated in the complaint.

NUNS noted in the complaint that "Čonjagić was reporting from the event, that he did not behave violently, nor did he disrupt public order and peace, but rather was peacefully reporting to the citizens about an event of public interest."

NUNS also pointed out that the police did not act in accordance with the law in this instance.

“Members of the Gendarmerie did not respond appropriately during the attack on the journalist, did not introduce themselves, nor did they state the reasons for removing the journalist, while no measures were taken against the attackers, nor were they identified. Journalist Čonjagić does not know the identity of the members of the Gendarmerie who did not respond to the attack on him. However, based on this information, security camera footage from the scene, as well as the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has information on which police officers were present at that location during the relevant period, the identity can be reliably confirmed,” the complaint states.

On the other hand, the civilian police officers whom Čonjagić managed to identify did not want to act in accordance with the law and accept the report of the attack, nor did they want to call another patrol to take the report, NUNS stated.

NUNS believes that several provisions of the Law on Police were violated in this instance.

“We consider that the conduct of the police officers, namely the members of the Gendarmerie and the civilian police officers, is absolutely unacceptable and in direct violation of the law. The described manner of action, failure to act in the case of an attack on a journalist, refusal to accept a report, as well as aggressive communication and behavior, constitutes a gross violation of the regulations governing police authority, as well as possibly other laws that sanction unlawful acts,” NUNS concludes in the complaint.

Source: NUNS